I finally told him that if he wanted to quit he had to go in and personally tell his teacher.
But, he hates to practice. He's asked to practice only 10 minutes a day (a far cry from the two hours a day I was required to practice at his age) ...He's turning 13 this month and I suspect some of this is just being a new teen....
Our son and I have been taking piano lessons with the same teacher for the last six months. His teacher is a lovely person and he really likes her, enjoys going to the lessons and enjoys demonstrating to us what he has taught himself to play by ear.But, he hates to practice. He's asked to practice only 10 minutes a day (a far cry from the two hours a day I was required to practice at his age) and it is a struggle. We've tried rewards (extra Youtube viewing time, cash, a special excrusion) and others to no avail.I finally told him that if he wanted to quit he had to go in and personally tell his teacher.He's turning 13 this month and I suspect some of this is just being a new teen. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Professional and mature.
Does he like music? Then, is he interested in trying other instruments or maybe composition? Since he can play from ear, he may be interested in other ways than piano.
Who actually enjoys practicing?
Who actually enjoys practicing? It is hard work... I have to force myself, too -- and I am a piano teacher of 32 students.
A young piano student who cries that he does not want to play the piano anymore, MAY want to say that he loves to play the piano more than anything else in the world, but he has another problem which he does not dare to address directly.
But the more I do it, the more I come round to thinking that practice is work, and you just have to be willing to put that work in. A kid might not want to learn a particular way, or a particular kind of repertoire, because it isn't fun and their own thing musically. But if they don't understand the idea of sitting down and doing a bit of work to achieve an end result, they'll STILL be unwilling to practise even when you tailor everything exactly to what they want and like. I'm not saying don't be fun and creative - it's important to, and I always make an effort to myself. It's just that it can be a red herring. It's important to distinguish between not liking the specific content, and not liking the idea of working at ANY content. When it's the latter problem, turning somersaults to please the student won't actually help.
I've made a playlist of AMEB preliminary music that, in a few months, she [11yo daughter] should be able to play quite easily. She listens to that in the car. In effect we've created a big bucket of possible pieces for her to play, analogous to the way you choose a book at the library.Now she does 20mins after slowly working up to it.
Let him quit
Here's an update:Our son, whose teacher is a wonder, has found a way to reignite his interest. Each week, she invites him to compose something so he can play it for her during the next lesson. This motivates him to sit down at the keyboard, since he absolutely loves composing and seems to have a gift for it. Once at the keyboard, he'll don't his composition piece and then to round out the practice session with work on assigned songs and technique.
This is the OPs latest update -- all is well.
glad to hear it!